SANDAG eyeing four different blocks in Columbia district for short-term parking facility

By Ashley Mackin | Downtown News

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is proposing a short-term bus parking facility project with four lots in the Columbia district of Downtown. The project would, according to material provided by SANDAG, “replace existing on-street bus parking spots, thereby increasing the number of spaces downtown available to residents and businesses.”

However, many Little Italy residents have repeatedly expressed concern over the proposed lots. At a Little Italy Association Board of directors meeting in September 2011, the Board stated their unanimous opposition to the proposed lot.

In a letter sent to members of the City Council in November 2011, Steve Galasso, president of the Little Italy Association wrote, “At its September Board of Directors meeting, the Little Italy Association voted unanimously to reject any and all attempts by SANDAG to acquire property for a bus parking lot, in any location in the Western part of Downtown San Diego. The area in question includes any full or partial block west of [First] Avenue, south of Laurel Street or north of Broadway [Street].”

The letter continued: “Though this area identified above is greater than the Little Italy Community, the Little Italy Association, the Little Italy Residents Association and the businesses and residents south of Ash Street have attended two… meetings in which unanimous sentiments have been lodged against the proposed parking lots.”

At a press conference held Feb. 3, business owners and community members spoke out against the proposed bus lots, and gathered to give Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer a book containing over 1,000 signatures opposing the parking proposal.

“On behalf of the Little Italy Association, the Little Italy Residents Association and all these wonderful people in our community, all of us [are] united in one cause: to oppose the giant bus lot anywhere in Little Italy or any of our West side neighborhoods,” said Annie MacMillan Eichman, president of the Little Italy Residents Association.

Eichman presided over the press conference, which welcomed Faulconer and Galasso, as well as San Diego County District Attorney and 2012 Mayoral candidate Bonnie Dumanis. Approximately 60 people were in attendance.

After Galasso spoke, he handed the book containing the signatures to Faulconer. “Having the right mix of commercial, residential and park space is the key to creating a vibrant neighborhood,” Faulconer said.

“There is no doubt in my mind that everyone, wherever you live in the city of San Diego, will agree that Little Italy has achieved just that,” Falconer added. “This is not a community that reflectively says ‘not in my backyard,’ but let’s be clear, adding 35 busses… and a 21-hour-a-day lot, with more noise and more traffic, to a neighborhood that has taken so many steps forward over the past several years would be a step in the wrong direction,” he said.

The approved facility would, depending on the size, accommodate between 15 and 18 bus bays, or lots. Busses would spend five to 15 minutes in the bays and, while in the bays, busses would not idle and they would not be allowed to remain parked overnight. Service would begin at 4 a.m. and end at 1 a.m.

During peak hours, it is proposed that up to 35 vehicles would be in operation out of the bays, with peak times being the morning and afternoon commute hours.

SANDAG is currently assessing four sites and their feasibility for this project. All four fall in the Columbia district, and are all opposed by the Little Italy Association and the Little Italy Residents Association.

The four sites being assessed are the blocks bounded by Ash Street, Kettner Boulevard, A Street and India Street; Ash Street, State Street, A Street and Columbia Street; Ash Street, Union Street, A Street and State Street; and A Street, Union Street, B Street and State Street.

SANDAG is also reviewing other potential sites based on established criteria, including the proximity to downtown transit routes and the number of bus parking spaces possible. The potential site must also fall within the boundary east of downtown’s north-south railroad tracks and north of Broadway Street.

“I believe, working together, we can and we must find a suitable location for SANDAG to dispatch these busses,” Faulconer said. “I stand with you to protect this neighborhood and you can count on my support.”